This PERC Policy Series explores the underlying issues fueling conflicts such as the Masher standoff, as well as what might be done to resolve them. Battles such as this are the result of federal land policies that encourage conflict instead of negotiation.

Nearly half of the West is owned by the federal government. In this new report, PERC researchers find that the federal government loses money managing valuable natural resources on federal lands, while states generate financial returns.

The Park Service wants another large buffalo herd in the Great Plains, which would advance the Department of the Interior’s Bison Conservation Initiative. In what may be a huge opportunity for the Oglala Sioux, a Tribal National Park is emerging in South Dakota—the first of its kind.

With less than a foot of rainfall each year, the Mojave Desert is not an obvious place to look for water. Reed Watson explores an innovative proposal to pump groundwater from the Mojave and move it to nearby Southern California municipalities.

Water markets are a win-win. The Scott River Water Trust in Siskiyou County pays farmers to leave water instream for salmon and steelhead. This case study looks at how low-volume, low-cost water leases support agricultural communities and municipal development while also enhancing environmental...

The Endangered Species Act is expensive and ineffective in its reactive approach to conservation. Laura Huggins explores an alternative system of incentives for environmental stewardship prior to regulatory listing.

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Founded 30 years ago in Bozeman, Montana, PERC—the Property and Environment Research Center—is the nation’s oldest and largest institute dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets.

The goal of PERC’s programs is to fully realize the vision of establishing “PERC University,” where scholars, students, policy makers, and others convene to expand the applications of free market environmentalism.

PERC's fellowships share a common goal of exposing new scholars, students, journalists, and policy makers to free market environmentalism, as well as enable scholars already familiar with FME to explore new applications.